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Re: [Phys-l] Ugh - RLC circuit issues



On 05/19/2007 02:09 PM, Bernard Cleyet wrote:

For starters never, never, never, use an electrolytic at greater than low audio frequencies.

That was good advice maybe 50 years ago, but times have changed.
The so-called "tantalum" capacitors are a sub-category of
electrolytics, and it is easy to get ones that work fine
at 100MHz or beyond ... well above "low audio" frequencies.

Electrolytics usually have a value rating of ~ +/- 100%

More like +100% -0%. That is, they never have less than
the advertised capacitance, but they might have quite a
bit more. It depends on (among other things) the V(t)
history that the capacitor has been exposed to.

Therefore they are used in situations where all you need
is "enough" capacitance. They are not used in situations
where the exact value of the capacitance is significant.